There are five easy steps to a lush and healthy backyard.
The Hamptons of Long Island are no place to experiment with your lawn. Estate owners here, from Martha to P. Diddy, take their turf seriously. These lawns are status symbols, playgrounds, and stages where gossip-page dramas are played out. There’s zero tolerance for crabgrass, grubs, and brown spots. And so, yes, some homeowners call in the heavy artillery, flooding their yards with chemical fertilizers, weed-killers, and water to maintain a pristine turf. But a growing number have gone organic—and the results are turning heads.
Charlie Marder was one of the first in the area to take the plunge. He converted his Bridgehampton nursery and landscaping business to 100 percent organic practices four years ago. It’s really common sense. If I put poisons or toxins that kill plants and animals over here, they can spread to over there. And we’re not that different from trees or animals ourselves. I didn’t feel comfortable exposing my clients or the people who work with me to those products.
So how did this lawn superstar get such a bad rap? Blame the broadleaf herbicides introduced after World War II. Used to kill weeds such as dande-lions and plantains, the chemicals also destroyed the clover that was used in many lawn mixes of the time (leaving ugly bare patches in their wake). Today, virtually all seed companies omit clover from their mixes.
But that doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy the advantages of this great green. Eliminating herbicides from your lawn regime is incredibly easy. And once you do it, most clover you introduce into your backyard will thrive. Where to start? Read-on our complete guide to organic lawns will help you every step of the way.
ref: Warren Schultz
